Baby Sea Lion 'Detained' at School 5 Blocks From Ocean

A baby sea lion was "detained" by sheriff's deputies after it showed up at a California high school five blocks from the Pacific Ocean.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said it received an unusual request for assistance from officials at Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, reported the Times of San Diego.

"School staff called the sheriff's department and the little guy was 'detained' without incident in the back of the patrol car," the department said in a tongue-in-cheek news release.

There has been an explosion in the sea lion population in the San Diego area, the San Diego Reader reported, with the population along La Jolla increasing to about 300 and ranging from 100 to 900 pounds with varying ranges of aggressiveness.

"The baring the teeth thing — they’re very aggressive, so again, people have to remember they are wild animals," Monica DeAngelis, a marine mammal biologist with the National Marine Fishery Service's West Coast regional office, told the Reader. "It's hard to predict or know what they might be thinking."

Keith Merkel, a San Diego-area biological consultant, told the Reader last year that as the sea lion population increases, there will likely be more interaction with humans.

"The upshot of it is having that many people and the sea lions both thinking that the Cove is theirs is going to generate those territorial interactions," said Merkel. "I think people are more curious. The thing about people is they're willing to pet anything until they get bit."
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